Born in South Africa, Hanli is a freediver, speaker, writer and ocean conservationist. She is also the founder and director of her own ocean conservation trust, I Am Water.

During her career as a competitive freediver, Hanli broke 11 South African freediving records. She was also the first person from South African to hold all six freediving world records at the same time.

Hanli discovered the world of freediving when she was living in Sweden, studying and working as an actress. At the age of 24, Hanli broke her first South African freediving record before representing South Africa at the Freediving World Championships in Egypt when she was 27. During her competitive freediving years, Hanli could hold her breath underwater for almost six minutes!

Alongside her athletic achievements, Hanli has worked as a documentary filmmaker and has helped a range of top athletes improve their mental strength using techniques she developed as a freediver. In recognition of her dedication and commitment to secure her achievements, Hanli was selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders in 2014.

In 2010, Hanli established her own trust – I Am Water Ocean Conservation. The trust aims to promote and progress ocean conservation through transformative ocean experiences. I Am Water endeavour to provide these ocean experiences in order to facilitate physical and emotional connections between humans and the ocean. Through their work, the foundation hopes to increase awareness of the importance of healthy oceans for healthy humans.

I Am Water love working with underprivileged coastal communities to drive their three influencing values: experiences, awareness and advocacy.

The Global Classroom were thrilled to welcome Hanli Prinsloo to our seventh classroom – Deep Breath – which took place on World Breathing Day – April 11th 2021 – at 16:30BST.

We cannot wait to welcome Hanli back to The Global Classroom for our eighth digital classroom – The Big Picture – on Tuesday 8th June at 16:30 BST.